Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Today I have two cards to share using more of DeNami's upcoming stamp release. These two cards use the same little Halloween chickies, but I've paired each with different stamps to give different looks.

In the first card, I've given you a sneak peek of an adorable sentiment that goes so perfectly with this image: Trick-or-Tweet. I love punny sayings, so I immediately fell in love with

this stamp. I also used one of DeNami's new Halloween petit four stamps with StazOn ink to stamp a jack-o-lantern face on an orange button. Paired with a bit of lime green floss for a stem, this makes a super-cute Halloween accent.On the second card, I gave another sneak peek of the Halloween petit four stamp set. I used a tiny "Boo!" stamp for my sentiment and stamped it directly under my image.Thanks for stopping by today, and remember to check out the DeNami blog for lots more cute ideas using the new Halloween stamps! The new images and accessories will be available on Thursday, July 1st.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

of some of the new DeNami stamps coming out on July 1. Of course these cute little owls are some of my favorites!

I have seen lots of mini canvases altered. I made a "faux" canvas using one of the DeNami gift boxes. I first stamped one of the Elegant Spring Flowers as a branch for my owls. Next, I used the Round Leafy Tree randomly around the edge of the box to look like the owls are nestled in the middle of a tree. I also stamped this image on a strip of sage cardstock, which I wrapped around the edge of my box after assembling. For the owls, I stamped them on the tree branch, then again on a piece of scrap cardstock. I trimmed the owls and mounted them on the box using foam squares.

To finish off my box, I stamped "Thank You" from the Assorted Greetings stamp set and embellished that with some of the new Harvest buttons. A bit of brown grosgrain ribbon and another button tied with string add the finishing touches to this little project.

Please head on over to the DeNami blog for some more cute projects featuring these little owls!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Just wanted to share one more project using the Playful Puppies collection. I stamped all four of the puppies, the dog bone and the paw print on the sides of a glass jar using StazOn ink. I then colored each image using Bic Mark-It pens. I scrunched some tissue paper up inside to show the stamping, but this would be a great gift jar filled with goodies. Have you ever hear of "Puppy Chow"? We call them Muddy Buddies (made with Chex cereal) but I have heard it also called "Puppy Chow" and I think this would be a cute little treat.

Thanks for stopping by today-please come back in a little bit for another project using a *NEW* stamp set from DeNami Design.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Just a note: this is my second blog post of the day. Please make sure you scroll down to see this week's Get Sketchy challenge!

For these two projects, I got to play with some adorable new stamps from DeNami Design. It is called Playful Puppies, and it is a Petit Four set which means you get four adorable little stamps to mix and match on your projects!

For my first project, I made a brightly colored card featuring a little hound from the set. These stamps coordinate so perfectly with DeNami's other stamps. For this card, I paired it with the Dog House. (oops-there's another sneak peek for you!) I also stamped Happy Birthday from the All-Occasions Sentiment set. I finished my card off with some fun details: a punched border from EK Success, striped ribbon from American Crafts, and an oversized button from DeNami Design.

On to my second project: a tiny gift bag with tons of style! This project features the little poodle from the Playful Puppies set. I was inspired to create a super-girly look for this. I paired the image with a computer-generated sentiment ("Pamper yourself!") and a rhinestone-studded collar/ribbon. These stamps also look great with DeNami's current stamps, such as the Paw Print. I personalized the tissue paper by randomly stamping the paw print. It was the finishing touch for this little bag! Can't you just picture this as the perfect gift bag to hold some sparkly nail polish or a spa gift card? Gift bag template, cardstock, ribbon, and button by DeNami Design, patterned paper by SEI, gems by Creative Charms, border punch by EK Success.

Be sure to check out the DeNami blog today. My friends and fellow designers Jenny and Rebeka have some adorable projects to share with you, also featuring the Playful Puppies set! And stop back here tomorrow for another project using more new DeNami stamps-I promise it'll be a "hoot"! (*wink, wink*)

Good morning! Just a quick note: there will be two posts today, one for the Get Sketchy challenge and one for the DeNami new stamp collection. Make sure that you check out both posts for lots of inspiration! :)

First up today is the latest Get Sketchy sketch challenge. I remember when I first saw this sketch-I loved it! I think I was drawn to the large bracket-shaped design. There are just so many possibilities. You could create a flap like I did, or you could use die cut paper or a large chipboard bracket.

I used retro-style papers and die-cuts from Cosmo Cricket, cardstock by DeNami design and Momenta, and buttons by DeNami Design.

Please check out the Get Sketchy blog for this week's sketch and fabulous cards from the entire design team. Hope you can play along!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

so how about a cute little summer card to inspire you today? This is my card for the Summer Splash Theme Challenge happening right now over on the DeNami blog. Perfect timing, since temperatures and humidity levels are increasing here already this morning!

I also chose a slightly unusual color scheme for my card. I often see summer cards featuring bright colors like turquoise and bright orange. I wanted to use more muted tones to give it a faded, sun-washed feel. I used kraft, white, and sky blue cardstocks. Wondering about the tangerine color I used to mat my sentiment? It's actually white cardstock which I colored with my marker so it would coordinate perfectly with my image! I do this a lot because I like to have everything match. :)

The final touch was to add some buttons and bling. I used Tutti Frutti Boutique Buttons from DeNami Design. Instead of adding stitching to the buttons, I attached them with Glue Dots and then topped each with a clear gem from Creative Charms.

You can also check out THIS summery card for Surfer Mimi used with a completely different color scheme. What colors will YOU use for our Summer Splash Theme Challenge? Be sure to check out the great deal DeNami is offering on it's Tropical Dreams stamp line right now, too!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Can you believe that it's Friday already? This week has literally just flown right by. During the winter, that's a good thing, but I hope that summer vacation doesn't continue like this! It will be over in the blink of an eye!

Because it's Friday, that means I have a new card for a new Get Sketchy sketch challenge. This week's sponsor is Eye-Lets Etc. Can you spot the eyelets on my card? No? OK, that was a trick question because there aren't any eyelets on there. :)

The product that I chose to use from Eye-Lets Etc. were the kitty brads. Yes, they carry brads, too, including these shaped ones. Because they were shaped, I treated them the same way I would have any other embellishment. I wanted to "ground" them so they wouldn't appear to be just floating on my card. So, I spread the prongs slightly and inserted them through the buttonholes. This grounds the brads and adds both dimension and color. So cute!

Hope you can play along with this week's sketch. You will find it HERE along with the rest of the DT's adorable cards.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Today's card features some elegant DeNami products. First is the Rosevine Heart, which is today's Product Spotlight over on the DeNami blog. I stamped the heart on white cardstock, colored the leaves and petals using markers, then carefully trimmed around the edge.

Then it was time to add some pretty details. This is absolutely my favorite part of cardmaking! I tied Plum Sheer Ribbon around the left side of my card, added some pearls by Queen & Co., and some Lime Green Stickles to the leaves.

Please check out the DeNami blog today for lots of other ideas using the Rosevine Heart. Each of the DT girls has created a different project using this stamp, but adding our own style.

Also, I have had a great response to my upcoming card class! It will be so much fun-hope you can join us, too! See my post HERE for details.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

as I begin teaching stamping and cardmaking classes again! It has been a while since I've held a class due to my schedule and, well, life. While I've certainly kept myself busy with my own projects and design teams, I have found that I really miss the face-to-face interaction with other scrappers. So, I have been looking for something that I could do to fill that little part of me that was missing.

Enter {ippity} by Unity Stamp Company, Inc. Many of you are probably familiar with the adorable stamps that Unity Stamp Company offers. Even if you're not familiar with the name, chances are you've seen their stamps used on projects in Paper Crafts, Cards, and other stamping magazines. {ippity} is a branch of Unity Stamp Company, and I have decided to resume my ShareCroppers classes and kits using this line of stamps. I am so excited about this!

I will be offering a "Stamp Camp" to kick-start the new classes. This is scheduled for Sunday, July 11, from 2-6 PM. We will be creating 6 cards using {ippity}'s "Fall for You" stamp set and papers from October Afternoon, shown above. Your kit will include everything you need to make all six cards, and the stamp set (18 stamps) is yours to keep! You need to bring basic supplies: 12" paper trimmer, scissors, clear acrylic block, black and brown ink pads, and your favorite adhesive. The cost for this class is $25. Because this stamp set alone retails for $24, it's like getting the class (complete with supplies) for $1!

Please register by Friday, June 25th, if you plan to attend. You can call me at 474-6682 or email me at sharecropperskits@gmail.com. Hope to see lots of new and familiar faces there!

Friday, June 11, 2010

I can't get enough of this little girl from Hero Arts, so I decided to use her for this week's Get Sketchy Challenge. You can check out this week's sketch HERE. Hope you can play along!

For my card, I stamped the image onto vellum, then colored the back of the vellum with my Sharpies and Bic Mark-Its. i am still playing around with this technique, but I am getting better at blending the colors. :)

For the rest of my card, I raided my scrap bin. I should definitely do this more often! I also had a stash of white cardstock borders that I made when I was cropping with my friend Lesa. She had this sweet little heart border punch from EK Success. To make it really "pop" on my card, I used my Sharpie to color it so that it matched the dress on my little girl. I then accented it with little gems between each heart.

I also wanted to share a link with you. Yesterday, Paulina from DeNami Design posted an interview with me on the DeNami blog. If you want to learn a little bit about me and my stamping, head HERE. Don't forget to leave me some love, LOL!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

using more of the Momenta page kit. This is 5 cards so far from just one kit-and I've barely made a dent in the contents! I have been adding bits of cardstock and few little embellishments, but I'm impressed with long this kit has lasted. It's nice to have everything ready to go in the package to make a quick card. No rummaging through the scrap bins looking for things that go together. :) (Who am I kidding-the scraps rarely make it to the scrap bins these days. There are little piles everywhere!)

The first card, I {Heart} You, is really simple. But I like the way the sentiment stands out-it really grabs your attention. These are chipboard alpha stickers from Momenta. They are fun and have a touch of glitter. I also tried something a bit different-I used a pink puffy heart sticker on top of a white button. Looks cute, don't you think?

The second card, Just a Note, is also very simple, but it's a great card to keep ready in your card stash. I love these colors together-and the paper flower from Hero Arts matched the Momenta paper perfectly. Gotta love that. :)

I will be back tomorrow with this week's Get Sketchy challenge. Hope you can join in!

Monday, June 7, 2010

I just got this cute little stamp set by Hero Arts-isn't she just so adorable? I just couldn't resist her. My dilemma: I don't own any Copics (yet!) so I was a little unsure about how to color her. The peachy markers that I have are a little too bright, and they don't blend very well.

I came up with a way to prolong buying Copics for a little while longer, plus use up a product that I really don't use anymore: vellum. I got this idea from the latest issue of CK. I stamped the little girl using black StazOn ink. Then, I flipped the vellum over and colored the back side of the image with my Sharpies and Bic Mark-Its. When I flipped the image right-side-up, it had a much softer tone and the colors appeared to be blended.

I was quite happy with the results, and decided to enter this mini card in this week's CPS Challenge. I had fun playing with this technique and tried it with this and several other stamps which i will share later this week. Happy Monday, everyone!

DeNami Design is sponsoring this week's challenge at Everything But The Kitchen Sink. The challenge: use nail polish! I have been struggling all week trying to come up with an idea for using nail polish on cards. The design teams came up with some great ideas, but I wanted to do something different. When I was stamping and coloring this weekend, it hit me.

I love this Mimi in the Rain stamp and I have used it several times. I have colored it with markers and paper-pieced it on other cards, but it dawned on me that I could give the umbrella, boots and raincoat a "slick" finish by using nail polish over my marker. So, after stamping and coloring, I applied a thin coat of pink glitter nail polish to the umbrella and the boots. For the raincoat, I applied a white pearl finish over the purple marker. You can see the sheen a little bit better in the detail photo.

Finally, I adhered the image to magenta cardstock that I had embossed using a Sizzix texture plate. I used this plate because the circles are varied sizes and are kind of random, like raindrops. The Sizzix plates don't emboss as deeply as the Cuttlebug folders, however, so the texture didn't show up very much. I still had the pink glitter nail polish out, so I added a bit to each embossed circle. Perfect!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Usually my projects are cards-they are quick and easy, and I send a ton of cards. So I have to admit I was a little nervous to try a template. Something 3D? Hmm...have I ever even done something like this before?As I began cutting out this purse template from DeNami Design, I could see how it would come together and I got a little giddy. I love cute things, especially mini cute things!The template was so easy to use because it's already printed on DeNami's white cardstock (which is a nice heavy weight and has a linen-like texture.) All I did was cut along the outline and fold on the marks. So, so easy!I stamped one of the flowers from the Elegant Spring Flowers randomly as a background image, then colored them in. The only other embellishing needed was to add a ribbon "strap", a button and some sheer ribbon.The first one was so cute that I couldn't stop! I ended up making three different jewel tone purses.All supplies are courtesy of DeNami Design.Don't forget to hop on over to the DeNami Design blog for lots of other "minis" from the DT! Nami is also offering a downloadable template so you can try one of your own! The downloadable template is normally $5, but use coupon code PCT2010 to get yours for FREE! Use your template to make a project and enter it into this week's Product Challenge. There are lots of fun stamping supplies up for grabs. Contest deadline is June 15th.

Friday, June 4, 2010

I have been trying so hard to keep up with different challenge blogs but it is so hard! I haven't had a chance to play along with the Card patterns challenges lately, so I thought I would try to do that this week. I came in just under the wire, since today is the last day to post an entry!I used more Momenta products for this card-I just love these glittery, puffy stickers from the Sweet Shoppe Collection! Cardstock, stickers and gems are all from Momenta.I've also been working on some super-cute projects for DeNami Design. I can't wait to share them all with you! The first set will be posted tomorrow, and DeNami is sponsoring a challenge to go along with it! Be sure to check back tomorrow for all of the details.

card, that is. I am NOT a digi girl by any means, but I really liked the digi products that the Get Sketchy DT got to work with this week. We got tons of different images to work with. My favorites were this bracket frame and the "cardboard" flowers.I loved this week's sketch, and I knew that I wanted to have different colors shooting out from the focal point image. To do that, I widened each of the color swatches from the digi image. The swatches looked a lot like a paint sample, but when I widened them in my photo editing program I was able to get narrow strips which I printed on white cardstock and then trimmed with my paper trimmer.The bracket and flower images were also easy to resize and print. I used my micro-tip scissors to cut each image out and adhere them to the front of my card. I mounted the doodled frame on pop dots to give it a little bit of dimension. The sentiment is actually three separate rub-ons that I applied before adhering to the card. (I'm sorry I don't know who the manufacturer is-I picked them up in the dollar bins at CKC Manchester last year.)The final touch was to add a little bling-some rhinestones and gems from SEI, Imaginisce and Momenta.I hope that you can play along with today's challenge over at Get Sketchy. The DT has some gorgeous cards for you to see!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

with my new Cricut cartridge, Create a Critter. This cartridge is so cute-if you are a fan of critter stamps and paper, then you NEED this cartridge! :)This is my entry for the Jitterbuggin' Challenge. This is a fairly new challenge blog which combines a sketch, a Cricut image and a paper requirement into one fun card challenge. You can see this week's challenge HERE.For my card, I used cardstock, patterned papers and a sticker from Momenta. The brown and cream cardstocks are from the Earthtones Textured Cardstock Paper Pad. The green, black and brown cardstocks are from the Primary Textured Cardstock Paper Pad. The "jungle leaf" patterned paper is so fun-some of the leaves are flocked (one of my current favorites!) This paper was from the Wonderland Paper Pad. The green and red dot papers are also from Momenta, back when it was called American Traditionals. It is from the Game Day Classics line. The leaf is from the Wonderland Puffy Stickers set. Rub-on is from Scenic Route.The monkey and vine are both from the Create a Critter cartridge.